Point Man
The Point Man is a member of the U.S. Army's First Encounter Assault Recon special forces detachment, and is the main protagonist of the ''F.E.A.R.'' series, being playable in F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon, F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. 3. He has served in the US army since he was 18 years old as a test subject for Armacham Technology Corporation, and more specifically, Genevieve Aristide. Before he was transferred to First Encounter Assault Recon, he had served in many conflicts as a special forces operative. The Point Man was born sometime in late 1994 or early 1995. The Point Man's movements in F.E.A.R. 3 are provided by Ron Hippe, who also voiced some of the game's soldiers. Both Timelines Background The Point Man is the first son of Alma Wade, a powerful psionic, who was forced to carry and give birth to him as part of ATC's Project Origin. The Point Man's powers were not as ATC personnel had hoped, and his quick reflexes were surgically enhanced under orders from Armacham president Genevieve Aristide, to recoup the fiscal losses after he failed as a psychic commander. After the resulting surgery and test were completed, the memories of his childhood were erased and he was sent into the military and then into F.E.A.R. upon Aristide's request. With his reflexes now well beyond human standards, he could perform maneuvers with surgical accuracy in an extremely short span of time, an ability portrayed in the game as the world "slowing down" around him (Slow-Mo effect). While in this heightened state, the Point Man's reflexes are five times faster than that of a normal human, meaning everything seems to slow down for him by a factor of five while he takes time to aim; during this time, his movement and firing speed is increased roughly threefold. Interestingly, F.E.A.R. 3 retcons this, showing him exhibiting the same speed as a child, suggesting that his speed is genetic, and not from surgical alteration. The Point Man was not given a real name by ATC because they didn't want him to develop a personality. He was given an "official" name by a few high-ranking people in ATC, but this name is currently unknown. When he was put into the F.E.A.R. team, none were told his true name and were informed not to even bother asking. ATC suspected that he may have been in a relationship with fellow F.E.A.R. operative Jin Sun-Kwon, and she was one of the only people ever to see him without his mask, but no evidence was found, making a relationship between the two unlikely.Armacham Field Guide He is confirmed to be 31 years old during the events of F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon. ''F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon'' The player character and main protagonist of F.E.A.R. is referred to as "the F.E.A.R. Point Man" by the mission briefings, and "the New Guy" or "Buddy" by some of the his team members. Little is known about him in the beginning, aside from his gender, and the fact that he has been on the team for only a week in his role as Point Man. Although the Point Man's character model is never explicitly shown in-game, his reflection can be seen in water if the graphical shader settings are set to maximum, and in Interval 03, during a hallucination in which blood overflows the ceiling. He wears a blue balaclava that completely conceals his face, the same D-12 Heavy Body Armor worn by Spencer Jankowski, and red goggles. He never speaks in F.E.A.R., in spite of seeing several surreal events and being spoken to by many characters, although he can sometimes be heard breathing heavily in tense situations. Initially, the Point Man's origins and identity are unclear. At the beginning of F.E.A.R., the Point Man has flashbacks in which a young woman's voice is heard screaming "No! Where are you taking him?!" and a doctor saying "You will be a God among men." Later in F.E.A.R., Paxton Fettel, the game's chief villain, confronts the Point Man and asks him: "You still don't know, do you? What you are? Why you're here? What's the first thing you remember? What's your given name? Where were you born? You have no history." Later Paxton says, "You and I were born from the same mother." Paxton also reveals that while Alma Wade cannot see into his mind, the Point Man can see into hers - which, in a final hallucination, he takes as an initiative to silence his nightmares. Just before this, the Point Man also kills his own brother, shooting Fettel point blank in the head. It is ultimately revealed that the Point Man is the first child of Alma Wade - and thus Project Origin's first prototype. This suggests that the mysterious visions the Point Man witnesses are due to psionic phenomena, and also hints that his super-human reflexes and increased human characteristics are the product of Project Origin's research. It is also shown that he is the grandson of Harlan Wade and nephew of Alice Wade, though she is evidently unaware of his identity. Near the end of Ground Zero, Alma can be heard whispering to the Point Man, "My baby... Give him back to me." and, "I know who you are..." as he escapes from the Origin Facility. After the blast, Jin and Douglas Holiday pick up the Point Man in a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter. When Jin mentions Alma, a thump is heard and Alma is seen climbing into the cargo bay of the helicopter. At the end of F.E.A.R., a conversation is heard between Genevieve Aristide and the mysterious Senator, implying that Armacham Technology Corporation used Fettel's uprising as an opportunity to test the Point Man's abilities, and that the Point Man was "a complete success." Monolith Timeline DC Digital Comic The comic takes place directly after the helicopter crash at the ending of the first F.E.A.R. Jin Sun-Kwon is shown alive but the Point Man and Douglas Holiday are absent for unknown reasons. ''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin As of the conclusion of ''F.E.A.R., the Point Man's status and whereabouts are unknown, although he is mentioned in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, as the Dark Signal squad is but a distraction for Alma, so she can be drawn away from the Point Man so that he may be captured and "reprogrammed" by Genevieve Aristide. Alma is seen searching the morgue, possibly looking for his body. The Point Man is also seen in a drawing at the Wade Elementary School, which depicts him shooting Paxton Fettel. ''F.E.A.R. 3'' After the events of F.E.A.R., the Point Man finds himself captured by Armacham and imprisoned in a heavily guarded jail far from Fairport. With the soldiers having no luck in interrogating him, Paxton Fettel interrupts and murders the soldiers to help his brother to break free. The brothers make their way out of the prison, and eventually hijack a helicopter, which takes them back to Fairport. Once there, they repeatedly encounter their twisted mother, Alma, who appears in both child and adult forms, as well as psychotic Cultists, once ordinary citizens driven insane by Alma's psychic powers. In conjunction with this, a mysterious Creep, later shown to be an apparition of their grandfather, Harlan Wade, constantly pursues them. After tirelessly fighting Armacham soldiers through the suburbs of Fairport, the Point Man is reunited with Jin. It is here she shows him a recent discovery she made, in the form of footage of a trapped Michael Becket, the protagonist of F.E.A.R. 2. From the video, the Point Man learns of Alma's obsession with Becket, his rape, and finally, her third pregnancy. Jin insists that they have to stop the birth of Alma's new child from happening. The Point Man and Jin set off into the city to find Becket, but are separated shortly afterwards by the Cultists. After rescuing Jin, she helps strap him into a EPA transport pod, and orders him to stop the birth at all costs, even if he has to destroy the baby after being born. After fighting their way to the airport, the brothers finally reach Becket, despite Armacham's best efforts to relocate him in order to extract information related to Alma. Becket reveals his knowledge of the Point Man's identity, and blames the Point Man for the fate Armacham has forced upon him. He then furiously demands that the Point Man kill the "filthy maggot that grows inside her." After this, the Point Man witnesses Becket's brutal death at the hands of Fettel. With the intelligence from Becket, the brothers head for the Ward Facility to rid themselves of the memories of their grandfather. Harlan's intentions are revealed, as he wished for his family to become gods. He curses at his grandchildren, remarking that the power should be his. But Harlan's plans are foiled when the brothers destroy the Creep, thus ridding themselves of the memories that plagued them. Now free to join their mother, the Point Man and Fettel are finally reunited with Alma. Fettel stands over their mother and informs the Point Man that they can become as gods if they consume the body of the child, to which the Point Man refuses and instead points a gun at Alma's pregnant stomach. In response, Fettel throws himself at his brother and the two decide to settle things once and for all. In the Point Man's ending, the Point Man once again shoots Fettel in the head and his brother fades away, leaving the Point Man nothing to do but stop the birth. However, despite what Jin and Becket ordered him to do, the Point Man delivers the child instead. After the Point Man gazes with a smile at his newly born sibling, Alma fades away. Carrying the child in his arms, the Point Man leaves the facility. He is then informed by Jin that the city is safe, while unaware that he has decided to deliver the baby. She informs him that she and the other survivors of the ordeal owe him their lives, and that they are grateful to him. In Paxton Fettel's ending, Fettel possesses the Point Man and cannibalizes Alma, before stealing the child. Vivendi Timeline ''F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point'' The plot of F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point starts off exactly where F.E.A.R. left off; while the huge explosion of the Origin Facility has flattened the Auburn District and devastated the city, the helicopter evacuating the survivors of the first F.E.A.R. team crash lands in the midst of the chaos. The Point Man is reunited with SFOD-D Douglas Holiday and F.E.A.R. medic Jin Sun-Kwon. They mention that they are unable to contact F.E.A.R. or Delta Force command but a SFOD-D extraction point has been established on the roof of Auburn Hospital. They inform the Point Man that he should proceed there as well. Continuing, the Point Man reunites with Paxton Fettel in a nearby church. Fettel reactivates the Replica Soldiers, who have been dormant since his death, and sends them after the Point Man. The Point Man and Douglas Holiday eventually meet up and navigate through a warehouse but Alma arrives and uses her apparitions to kill Holiday. The Point Man is forced to proceed alone through the Old Underground Metro Area, which leads directly to Auburn Hospital. During his journey through the winding tunnels, Alma, in her younger form, clears the way for the Point Man multiple times by killing Replica soldiers impeding his path. Replica forces eventually become desperate and place demolition charges in the subway tunnels, with the hope that the resulting explosions will kill the Point Man. While initially unsuccessful, the Point Man is eventually caught in one of these demolition explosions and is ejected from the tunnels onto a nearby parking structure. From there, he proceeds to Auburn Hospital, which neighbors the parking structure. After finally reaching Auburn Hospital, the Point Man hears a scream from one floor above him. He bursts into the room, only to find four ghostly figures floating around Jin Sun-Kwon's dead body. Now, with nothing to fight for but his own survival, the Point Man attempts to escape the hospital, during which time he experiences several hallucinations, which include a series of prison cells, containing the deceased victims of Alma's murders in F.E.A.R. Eventually, the Point Man witnesses a hallucination that involves the older and younger Alma reuniting in a blue light. The Point Man then returns to the Auburn Hospital and is contacted by Rowdy Betters, who tells him to get to the roof for extraction. However, Fettel destroys the Blackhawk, with the resulting explosion throwing the Point Man backwards into a wall and knocking him unconscious. When he awakens, he staggers to the roof railing to witness the entire city in flames. ''F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate The Point Man is briefly mentioned in ''F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate, during a scene in which Paxton Fettel speaks of him, telling the Sergeant "Did I tell you about my brother? You remind me of him. I didn't like him either." and "I never met my brother, until the day he killed me. We are a... complicated family. Wouldn't you agree?" Psychic Powers Unlike Paxton Fettel, the only known component of the Point Man's childhood is that he was put into stasis after he proved to be less psychic than Armacham had hoped for. Genevieve Aristide later brought him out of stasis for testing and surgery. Afterwards, she erased many of his memories and placed him in the US Army for a testing period until he came to F.E.A.R. The only known and confirmed psychic powers are those that allow him to receive the thoughts of Alma. The Slow-Mo abilities seen are not psychic at all, but due to bio-engineering by ATC, though F.E.A.R. 3 negates this, suggesting that these abilities are in fact related to psychic powers. He has also been noted to regenerate health when heavily injured. This may be due to many factors, such as more engineering by ATC, heavy military training, a minor form of psychic powers, or just perhaps the game's design. Relationships Jin Sun-Kwon There seems to be a possible connection between these two, at least on Jin's part. She does call him "cute" when asked by Jankowski, and Holiday says, "Don't worry, I'm just playing. I won't mess with your girlfriend." ATC was able to monitor F.E.A.R. via unknown means, and found a relationship to be unlikely: "Investigation into a possible former relationship between the two could not confirm anything." Nevertheless, Jin does care about the safety of the Point Man greatly. She was concerned for him after he was thrown from a burning building by Alma, and did protest the Point Man going off on his own several times. She also expressed joy at seeing him alive. Just before her death in the non-canon F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point, she showed great distress when saying, "You aren't coming, are you? I'm going to die here alone. I don't wanna die with them." Spencer Jankowski A typical veteran and the rookie relationship. Jankowski was the point man prior to the arrival of the Point Man in the first F.E.A.R. He is not very optimistic about the Point Man's chances, due to his lack of experience with paranormal combat. He admits to Jin that he feels uncomfortable around the Point Man, stating that "something about him just feels... off." and "I'm serious, it's something about his eyes, like he's looking right through you." He is, however, still friendly with the Point Man despite these misgivings. "Rowdy" Betters Betters is completely opposite to Jankowski. Encouraging, he calls the Point Man "Buddy." He asks the Point Man to perform insane feats, including going back into the wastewater plant alone, despite having been just attacked by Alma. However, this is not done out of malevolence, but because the Point Man is the only person shown to have the capability to survive these situations. Douglas Holiday Holiday seems to be the only SFOD-D to respect the Point Man (and F.E.A.R. in general). At one point, he calls him a "bad-ass motherfucker," to reflect how severe a threat the Point Man is to the Replicas. When working side by side in Extraction Point, Holiday notes that they "make a pretty good team together." Paxton Fettel Paxton Fettel is the Point Man's younger brother; although the only source of direct information is Fettel himself, it can be assumed that their relationship is less than amiable, especially considering that the Point Man shot him in the head and killed him in F.E.A.R. As children, they appeared to behave as normal boys, in that they would color in coloring books, watch television and play on their beds. Later, after receiving toy guns, the pair would pretend to shoot at each other. As their training continued, the Point Man was less favored by Harlan Wade, despite having good hand to hand combat skills, taking on ATC guards in sparring matches and winning. As Fettel became more heavily influenced by Alma, the Point Man seemed more frightened of his mother than Fettel, and the pair grew apart, despite the encouragements of Fettel for the Point Man to get to know Alma. Soon enough, the boys were separated shortly before Fettel synchronized with his mother. During their journey back to Fairport, Fettel suggests that the Point Man felt guilty for killing him, and that this was the reason why he was "kept on the run." The Third Child The Point Man's half sibling, conceived when Alma Wade raped a trapped Becket at the end of the second game, and briefly seen at the end of F.E.A.R. 3. Although the Point Man's mission was initially to stop the birth of the child at all costs, he ultimately decides against it, and instead delivers the child after his battle with Fettel. The Point Man is seen smiling while looking at the child as Alma fades away; as such it is heavily implied that he has decided to raise it as his own. Trivia *In the Monolith game, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, the game's main character, Ethan Thomas, has a shadow identical to that of the Point Man's. *In the manual for F.E.A.R., his reflexes are said to be "faster than a cat on an adrenaline burst." *If there truly were 1,000 Replica soldiers, the Point Man killed about half of them in the events of F.E.A.R., as well as 56 ATC soldiers. *In F.E.A.R., he is called a "Bad Motherfucker" by Douglas Holiday, just as Sergeant Manuel Morales called Michael Becket the same in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. *In F.E.A.R., the Point Man shoots Fettel once in the head, killing his brother instantly. In F.E.A.R. 3, in Point Man's ending, he once again shoots Fettel in the head, though firing three shots this time instead of one. *In modern military parlance, the point man is the position in the lead of a formation of soldiers. For example, being at the tip of a wedge formation. The point man is usually attacked first and the position is usually the most dangerous one in a formation. *In F.E.A.R. 3 trailers, the Point Man is seen with a "P 1" sewn onto the front of his shirt. This is likely in reference to him being the first prototype, or may be related to his nickname as Point Man. *In F.E.A.R. Files' Extraction Point on the Xbox 360, the Point Man uses the same character model the Sergeant does, and the Sergeant uses the Point Man's model in Perseus Mandate. The reason for this is unknown. *For F.E.A.R 3, the Point Man's mask is removed and he is visually a distinct opposite to his brother, with longer hair and a beard, whereas Paxton Fettel is clean shaven, yet the two possess a similar overall facial resemblance. *Point Man has a bio in the Armacham Field Guide, but unlike the other biographies in the Guide, his has no picture attached to it, and no name other than "Point Man." *It is stated in the manual for F.E.A.R. that the Point Man has training to be able to dual-wield pistols. This is also seen in Extraction Point. However, in F.E.A.R. 3, the Point Man can no longer optionally dual-wield pistols, and the only exception to this is the MP-970, which is always dual-wielded. Gallery References es:Hombre Punta Category:F.E.A.R. Characters Category:F.E.A.R. 3 Characters Category:Extraction Point characters Category:Male characters Category:Characters Category:Playable Characters Category:Armacham Projects Category:Featured articles